Sunday, March 5, 2017

An End to Aging: Can Science Allow Humans to To Become Immortal?

Some scientists argue that aging is a social construct, not a natural law — and therefore, we can challenge it.

Scientists are looking at genetic editing and advances in
artificial intelligence as possible means to prolong human life
indefinitely.

Aging — a Law or a Suggestion?

The inevitability of aging may be no more than yet another biological
theory that scientific advances will retire in the near future. Some
scientists today say that longevity is a societal concept that we may no
longer need to uphold as a static law of nature, but instead, as one
that can be rewritten to our benefit.

Researchers from fields spanning genetics to artificial intelligence
(AI) are working towards a future where we will have to stop using a
“midlife crisis” to justify our ill-advised decisions (but is it really
ever the wrong time to buy a Porsche?).

While there have been innumerable theoretical ideas and
initiatives for dodging the Grim Reaper, many actual strategies that are
being developed today fall into one of two camps: biomedical or
technological.

Besting Biology

To win the biological battle against death, we must start by
understanding the enemy. Aging is a processes that begins on a cellular
level. As our cells divide, their DNA
and functionality slowly break down, leading to greater susceptibility
to damage and disease. For many years, scientists had hoped that
telomeres might be the key to halting aging, but these “caps” that
protect our DNA have proven to be more complex than initially thought.

When biologists discovered that our telomeres wear away as we age,
they theorized that lengthening these strands of protective DNA could
also elongate our lives — perhaps indefinitely. But researchers have
since found that multiple processes in cells work to tightly regulate telomere lengths
because telomeres that are too long can actually have negative
consequences, like cancer. Many labs around the world are studying the
molecular mechanisms that lengthen and trim telomeres in the cell in
order to find out whether they can be modified to keep telomeres at the
Goldilocks length — not too long or too short.

Concurrently, technology for genetic editing has advanced by leaps and bounds. The revolutionary process for editing DNA, “CRISPR/Cas9,” has allowed scientists to make targeted genetic changes in living mammalian cells, and has even worked to save a little girl from cancer. The tool has so many applications, researchers have coined the phrase “CRISPR it!” (who says scientists are out of touch?).

Genetic engineering is only one of the many medical advances that are
being used to prolong our lives. However, some see the human body as a
vessel not to be fixed, but rather, replaced.

Virtual Immortality

Technology has become fully integrated with modern life, becoming, in effect, an extension of its users. And as virtual brain modeling and AI design have advanced, many have begged the question, at what point does virtual reality become… reality?

We can design servers — and even mechanical bodies — that will last
far longer than our current bodies will. And consider that these robotic
bodies could endure a much wider range of conditions than our fleshly
ones can. Just in terms of space travel, designing a ship that would not
need food, water, or atmosphere would be much more efficient. Also, it
wouldn’t matter how long the trip to another world would take — we
wouldn’t even need hibernation chambers!

While some reject the idea of preserving humanity outside of the
actual human body, leaders like Elon Musk are taking steps towards the
potential merger of man and machine. Musk has indicated that in the near
future he will be unveiling a neural lace,
a device that can enhance and grow with your brain. Once computers can
seamlessly interact with our minds, it’s conceivable that they may be
able to store our minds as well.

Visionaries like Musk, along with other companies chasing immortality,
are forcing us to reconsider our own mortality: what would life look
like divorced from death? What price are we willing to pay for another
100 years of life? Another 1,000? And if that’s the case, then what does
it mean to be human?

If technology keeps advancing at its present rate, we may have to
figure out our answers to these questions sooner rather than later.